Open Line Faculty-Staff Newsletter for the Week of Aug. 27, 2012

Campus News

Jenny Rickard named new vice president for enrollmentFollowing an extensive and highly competitive national search, Jenny Rickard has been named Puget Sound's new vice president for enrollment. A prominent leader in college admissions, Rickard comes to Puget Sound from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, where she currently serves as chief enrollment and communications officer. “We have found an exceptional leader in Jenny Rickard," said President Ron Thomas. "Her exemplary credentials and record of success in diverse positions of responsibility are remarkable. Jenny understands and appreciates the distinctions of University of Puget Sound, and she is enthusiastic about addressing the opportunities we face together.”

Prof. John Hanson receives 2012 President's Excellence in Teaching AwardEstablished in 1997 to recognize faculty members who demonstrate exceptional teaching skills independent of accomplishments in scholarship, research, or publication, the President's Excellence in Teaching Award is awarded each year to a faculty member with a genuine passion for teaching; an ability to inspire students to learn; a capacity to challenge students and motivate them through high expectations; a respect for students as individuals; and an enduring intellectual curiosity and capacity for growth, change, and vitality. At the Fall Faculty Dinner last week, President Ron Thomas named Professor of Chemistry John Hanson the 15th recipient of the President's Excellence in Teaching Award. Congratulations!

Five named distinguished professorsAt the Fall Faculty Dinner five members of the senior faculty were bestowed the title of "distinguished professor," identified by the Faculty Advancement Committee for high accomplishment in teaching, scholarship, and service. Congratulations to 2012's distinguished professors:

Dexter Gordon, communication studies and African American studies

Wade Hands, economics

John Hanson, chemistry

David Sousa, politics and government

Harry Velez-Quinones, foreign languages and literature

Memorial services set for Keola Damaso ’15 and Brent Visser ’13Faculty and staff members and students are invited to gather at memorial services for two members of the Puget Sound family who died over the summer.

Wyland Keola Blankenfeld Damaso ’15 (known as Keola on campus) died on Tuesday, Aug. 7. He was a member of the Rugby Club and was set to become a resident assistant this year. Join others on campus Wednesday, Aug. 29, at 5:30 p.m., in Kilworth Memorial Chapel, to celebrate Keola's life and grieve our shared loss. In addition students are organizing an informal gathering "on the Sound" (following on a Schiff Hall tradition) on Saturday, Sept. 1, at 3 p.m.

Brent Visser ’13 died on Friday, Aug. 3. He was a double major in French and music prior to withdrawing from the university in spring 2011. While attending Puget Sound he was involved in productions with both the theatre arts department and School of Music, and performed in the Adelphian Concert Choir and Voci d'Amici. A campus gathering will be held in his memory on Wednesday, Sept. 5, at 5:30 p.m., in Kilworth Memorial Chapel. All members of the campus community are invited to gather to remember Brent and celebrate the gifts that he brought to our campus.

Puget Sound among top 10 colleges with "most accessible professors"The 2013 edition of The Princeton Review's annual book The Best 377 Colleges names Puget Sound as one of the country's best institutions for undergraduate education, and features the university in three “Top 20” nationwide categories: Most Accessible Professors (#9); Best College Radio Station (#9); and Most Liberal Students (#18).

Skyscrapers and Shadows on display at Collins Memorial LibraryThe husband and wife team of Andrew Gardner, associate professor of comparative sociology, and Kim Giordano, a Tacoma-based photographer and artist, have created a cross-disciplinary and blurred-genre exhibition that explores the lives of transnational labor migrants in the petroleum-rich states of the Arabian Peninsula, now on display at Collins Memorial Library. The exhibit includes numerous materials, such as migration narratives, portraits, and fieldwork notes, collected mainly during their two-year residence in Qatar between 2008 and 2010. The exhibit will be on display through Sept. 30.

Puget Sound recieves gold STARS rating for sustainability effortsThe university has achieved a gold rating in a new, national system for measuring sustainable practices at more than 350 colleges and universities nationwide. STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System) is a voluntary, self-reporting frameworl for measuring and comparing colleges' progress in taking care of the planet and its people. “Out of our 26 liberal arts peer colleges nationwide, we are one of only two to attain a gold rating,” said John Hickey, associate vice president of business services and co-chair of the Sustainability Advisory Committee. “Participating in STARS and seeing what other colleges are doing has helped us identify what we already do well and pinpoint how to improve in a strategic manner.”

First Daedalus Dinner to feature Prof. Kristin Johnson, Sept. 19; reservations due Sept. 12The first Daedalus Dinner of the fall semester will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 6 p.m., in Murray Boardroom, WSC. Kristin Johnson, associate professor of science, technology, and society, will use the life of taxonomist Karl Jordan, who described more than 5,000 species of animals, to help answer the questions, How do we know what we know about biodiversity, and Why do we seem to know so little?

Established in the 1970s, Daedalus Dinners cover a wide range of programs and topics, and are open to all faculty and staff members, who are encouraged to bring interested students as their guests. Four times each year, the Puget Sound Daedalus Society sponsors an evening of scholarship, debate, and dinner. The evening begins with wine and hors d'oeuvres, followed by the featured presentation, a catered buffet dinner, coffee, dessert, and discussion. Reservations are $15 per person, first-come, first-served, and must be made by Wednesday, Sept. 12. Contact x3207 for more information or to make a reservation.

In the News

The August issue of South Sound magazine ran a Q&A feature about favorite teachers, and Puget Sound turned up twice. Lauren Foster ’10 was quoted choosing her high school English teacher, who "changed my life when she encouraged me to go to the University of Puget Sound," and South Sound reader @kkdowns tweeted "Nick Kontogeorgeopoulos (University of Puget Sound) was an inspiring and passionate prof. I would say more, but his name used up my tweet." Special thanks to Print and Copy Services Manager Ginene Alexander, who sent in this scan of the feature!

Sign up to receive "In the News," a weekly digest of Puget Sound press coverage, by contacting our media relations office at mediarelations@pugetsound.edu or x2611.

Celebrate a Puget Sound tradition! Faculty and staff members are invited to join students and community members at LogJam!, Friday, Aug. 31, beginning at 5 p.m. Enjoy food, entertainment, and carnival activities, plus photo ops with Grizz. Find out more on the LogJam! 2012 Facebook page.

This year at LogJam!, bring nonperishable food items to donate and participate in the Backpacks of Hope Food Drive, sponsored by the Office of Spirituality, Service, and Social Justice. The program, run by St. Leo Food Connection, gives backpacks full of food to children every Friday so they have food for the weekend. For information and a list of preferred food drive items, visit the Backpacks of Hope Facebook page.

Joel Eklof ’16 (Bremerton, Wash.) and Alec Pankow ’16 (Ketchikan, Alaska) were named Puget Sound's inaugural Matelich Scholars, honoring them with the college's most prestigious award for students who combine extraordinary promise in academics and leadership. The scholarship, funded by a generous gift from George E. Matelich ’78 and Susan E. Matelich, covers all tuition and fees for each student for up to four years of undergraduate education at Puget Sound.

Rebecca Ebert ’16 (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Kieran O'Neil ’16 (Fairbanks, Alaska) were named Puget Sound Lillis Scholars, honoring them with the college's most prestigious award for students who show extraordinary promise in academics and scholarship. The award, funded by a generous gift from Gwendolyn H. Lillis P'05 and Charles M. Lillis P'05 and made through The Lillis Foundation, covers the cost of tuition, room, and board for up to four years of undergraduate education at Puget Sound.

The Immanuel Presbyterian Church Walter Lowrie Speaker Series and the Office of Spiritualty, Service, and Social Justice present Philip Gulley, Wednesday, Sept. 5. Gulley is the author of If the Church Were Christian and If Grace is True, is the Emmy-winning host of the Porch Talk series, and is a contributor to The Saturday Evening Post. His talk, "The Evolution of Faith: How God is Creating a Better Christianity," will begin at 7:30 p.m., at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 901 N. J St., Tacoma. The talk is free and open to the public.